Snippet #2780651

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away over the open sea, Sheodin again appeared in a flash of light and a crack of thunder. He stood on a small island large enough for a dozen souls, and he released a long breath. The archmage knelt in the sand with Stormquake’s head pressed into the ground.

A long moment passed as Sheodin centered himself, and then he expanded his senses.

Sheodin breathed with the waves, feeling the ebb and flow of the tide pulse through his body like a heartbeat. He listened to the wind as the gentle ocean breeze caressed his silvery mane. The earth beneath him was as solid as his own bones, and it filled him with a strength that could shoulder the world.

“Hear me, Spirit of Gaia.” He said, reaching out to the elements and life of the world. “Hear my voice. I am Sheodin Thundermane, son of Lo’din the Fearless, and I am a sojourner of this world. My people and I are not natives of your bosom, but we have come voyaging from beyond the stars in search of a new home. Ha’Ari, bearer of our salvation, the God of gods, has lead us from our dying world to you - a mother not our own - so that we may escape the death throes of our sun, but we have found rest for our feet to only find that you face a similar threat as we do…”

“Hear me, Spirit of Gaia!” Sheodin cried to the sea, land, and sky. “Lend us your strength - lend us your power - and we shall smite your foes with the fury of lions and eagles! Grant me the authority, and I will shatter these roaming mountains. Grant us sanctuary, and we will guard you against the terrors that lurk in the dark between the stars, and we will bring an everlasting flame to chase away the shadows that prey upon your children. If not I, then hear the echo of your peer!”

Stormquake awakened, and the sea trembled.

Stormquake stirred, and the sky roared.

Stormquake stretched out its consciousness to the being known as Gaia, and within the hammer was felt the vengeful power of a dying world. It was much like her, but far more ancient and scarred beyond reckoning - having seen the rise and fall of many iterations of intelligent life. The hammer carried the fury and will and hope of an aged and bloody planet burned for eons by a red star and the malice of a dark god, but it was merely an echo. Though the hammer wielded the power of a hurricane and carried the strength to rend a mountain in two and cover a continent in ash, it needed more.

It needed to feel the tides in its blood.

It needed to breathe the tempest and speak with the gale.

It needed to feel the molten flame fill its heart.

It needed to stand with the mountains as its bones.

It stretched out to Gaia, offering - and asking - for aid.